Photo credit by RBW Ent

[Review] MAMAMOO – TRAVEL

MAMAMOO just released their tenth mini-album ‘TRAVEL’. In the album description they wrote that while travelling nowadays is hectic and almost non-existent, we can use this album to take us around the world while staying in the same place. Let’s dive right in because we’ve really been looking forward to this one!

TRAVEL

We open the mini-album with ‘Travel’. This song is such a soft opener. It reminds me of blue skies and walks on the beach at dusk. Solar’s vocals really work their magic with the laidback drum beat and the soft guitar.

The second track is ‘DINGGA’, which we wrote about earlier since it was a pre-release. You can find our article about that here. I’m not sure why it doesn’t show up in the Spotify album, though they did release it separately.

After that we get the title track ‘AYA’. This one takes us to Arabian nights. There’s the Arabian flute that is a big part of the instrumental, I really dig that. It reminds me of the hype of when ‘Egotistic’ first came out. This song is a bop y’all. That bridge is everything!! 

I can’t believe Solar has an actual monobrow in the music video. I had to do a doubletake while watching the MV for the first time.

‘Chuck’ comes next and we’re getting some harmonies! The chorus with the dissonant line is so cool. The instrumentation is all over the place, but I’m kinda digging it. This is a break-up song but it feels more like ‘I’m gonna key your car’ rather than ‘I’m going to cry for a while’. 

After that we get ‘Diamond’. This intro feels so cool, like they’re trying to convince me to join their gang which I would probably do in a heartbeat. The instrumentation is quite sparse, but the girls fill it up so well with their little backing vocals and their sheer presence. Moonbyul’s verse is 10/10.

‘Good Night’ is the perfect lullaby. I’ve missed their vocals like this. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good MAMAMOO hype track, but originally I fell in love with their softer songs. This is taking me right back to when I first started getting into their discography. Their vocals work so well together in harmony. Ugh, I love this so much.

Overall

‘TRAVEL’ by MAMAMOO is crazy good. We get so much diversity in genres and styles, I’m legit in awe of their talent. Go ahead and listen to the mini-album on Spotify here.

Ilse Van Den Heede
A writer with a slight coffee addiction and a tendency to find K-Indie gems in the YouTube rabbit hole.